Sticks and Stones(and Snakes)
by uoduck
Summary: After Harry Potter's second year, he asks Aunt Petunia if he can go a reptile summer camp near Central City in the States. She agrees, if only to get rid of him for a few weeks. Coincidentally or not, it's the same camp that Barry Allen is going to. Gen. Pre-series for The Flash.
**AN:** I do not own either HP or The Flash. Pre-Series for the Flash. 1st part of "Tales of a Speedster and a Wizard".

* * *

"Aunt Petunia?"

Petunia turned around to look at her nephew as he came into the kitchen. He was tentative, hesitant as he stopped a few feet before her. At least Dudley was out playing with his friends and Vernon was still at work. Dudley would make fun of Harry for this, whatever he was about to ask. Though the heat didn't help with her mood. It was overly hot for London this summer and Petunia dreaded having to go outside. "Yes?"

Harry was holding out a brochure with shaking hands but his green eyes were excited. "Could I go?"

"Go?" Petunia repeated, not reaching out to take the brochure yet. Harry had just gotten home from that freak school a month ago and Petunia didn't even want to touch the paper, she was afraid that it would have magic on it.

"To this reptile summer camp," Harry said, not meeting her eyes as his hand slowly lowered. Petunia sighed before reaching to grab the piece of paper, noting that it wasn't parchment like those letters that Harry had gotten when he had been 11.

She peered down at it like it might bite her then opened it up, narrowing her eyes at the topics. "Why would you want to go to a reptile camp? Is this another freak camp?"

Harry flinched but shook his head, his hands tucking inside the pockets of his pants. Petunia paled at the thought of him going for his wand but then remembered that he wasn't allowed to do magic outside of school, not until he was 17. "No, it isn't. At least, it's not as far as I can tell. I… I didn't tell you about what happened at school this year but… uh, Icanspeaktosnakes."

"Excuse me?" Petunia couldn't make out what Harry had mumbled so quickly then her eyes widened when her mind finally processed it. "What did you say?"

Harry finally looked up at her and crossed his arms, grinning a little tentatively. The grin never made it to Harry's eyes as she watched him. A shadow passed through his green eyes but then he shook his head. "I can speak to snakes. I actually saw and fought a basilisk in the last month of school and that made me want to learn about the animals that I can talk to."

Petunia yelped and automatically took a step back, throwing the brochure back at him. "Okay, you can go! Just don't go bringing a snake back home with you!"

"Thanks. And could you take me to the airport on June 13th?"

* * *

"Joe!"

"Barry, what's up, kiddo?" Joe asked as he stepped through the door. He had barely just opened the door when Barry came bursting down the stairs holding out a brochure. Iris waved her hello from over at the table as she was jotting down an answer to what was probably a math question on her homework.

"Hi, dad!"

Barry grinned slightly, his green eyes lit up with excitement. "I want to go! Here's the brochure."

Joe studied Barry then grabbed the brochure and looked through it. This was the first thing that Barry had shown excitement for since he had come to live with them a year ago. The least he could do was look at it. "A reptile camp?"

"Yeah! I would get to learn about snakes and lizards!"

"Barry..."

"Joe, please!"

"Barry, I… Is this about you borrowing the school's lizard and lizard equipment last year?" Joe asked. "You promised me that you wouldn't be thinking about anything like that."

"This isn't like that! I wouldn't bring anything home from it, I promise! I want to learn about reptiles!" Barry frowned and looked up at Joe with a puppy dog look, the one that Joe had learned to be wary of. Wide, bright eyes and a wide grin. "I won't bring home anymore stray animals!"

Joe sighed. He knew that Barry was heading towards being a scientist, what with his school projects and homework for the past year. Barry had created a model of the planets for the first school project and then had made a creative table of elements for one of the last projects. Joe looked down at the brochure and studied the price tag for the two week long summer camp. It was a lot but with one glance at Barry's expression, he knew that he would find a way to make it work. Barry had already had to suffer through losing both his parents, though his mother more permanently.

"Okay, Barry," Joe agreed, rubbing his temples. It had been a busy day at the station today and at least Barry hadn't attempted to go to Iron Heights to see his father again. "We'll make it work."

"Yay!" Barry whooped in joy, hurrying over to the living room to share the news with Iris.

"As long as you promise not to go try to see your father anymore," Joe added, sighing again at Barry's stricken look.

"But Joe," Barry started. Iris watched them, frowning at Barry's sorrowful tone.

"No buts, kiddo," Joe replied. "You scared me yesterday when you didn't get home from school. I don't want you walking through the streets of Central City alone anymore."

Barry's shoulders drooped and he looked down at his shoes, scraping them on the floor. "I just wanted to see my father! He didn't kill my mom! He didn't! It was that blur! I know my dad didn't do it."

Joe grimaced, not knowing what to think of Barry's insistence that a 'blur' had killed his mother. It was impossible. A blur like the one Barry had described couldn't kill anything or really exist. And Barry had insisted that he had seen a red-gold blur in their home. "I know you think that, Barry, but all the evidence points to that conclusion. Besides, if I hadn't come to get you yesterday, you would have walked or hitched a ride back and that's not safe for a 12 year old."

Barry stared up at Joe then nodded slightly, shoulders curling in and his chin dropping to his chest. "Okay, Joe. I promise."

"Alright then. You're going to that summer camp."

* * *

Harry stared out of the taxi cab window at the camp ahead of them with wide eyes. It had looked small in the brochure but to him, it was big. It definitely wasn't as big as Hogwarts, with all its floors and acres of forestry behind it. He could see the main lodge in the center of the camp as the taxi carried him to the drop off point. There were five bunk houses, two for girls and two for boys and the last one was for the counselors.

He turned to look behind him, out through the back window and sighed wistfully at seeing lots of cars with parents dropping off their own kids. No one had come with him to drop him off. It was just him and the taxi driver, who had looked at him a little funny, but had otherwise ignored him. Central City hadn't been too big of a city when they had driven through it but to Harry's sight, it was much smaller than London.

The camp was settled in a rolling valley, with a mountain behind it. Grass spread out under everyone's feet and curled around buildings. Trees dotted the landscape as Harry started to smile. The taxi came to a stop at the designated drop off point and the driver got out.

"This is your stop, right, kid?"

"Yeah, it is," Harry said, opening the car door and sliding out. His wand was tucked inside one of his pockets of his new pair of jeans though it wasn't like he was going to use it. Aunt Petunia had insisted on getting him at least one new set of clothes for the trip, saying that they didn't need any Americans calling them about Harry not having any clothes that weren't dirty or too small or too ripped. "Thank you."

The older man, roughly 45, studied him as Harry got out his wallet. "I don't know why a kid from England would come here but I suppose you kids need something to do over the summer holidays. However, I don't see why you would be interested in a reptile summer camp."

Harry handed over the American muggle money, having had it converted at Gringotts. The driver nodded to him then, having already gotten Harry's suitcase out of the trunk, got back in the driver's seat and drove off.

* * *

"Hey, that's my backpack!" Barry exclaimed as a boy made away with it. He started to give chase as the boy ran through the camp, passing the cabin that Barry was in, then suddenly dropping as he tripped. Barry quickly raced over and scooped up his red backpack and then looking at the kid who was standing on the steps of cabin. "You're the kid from London, right?"

The boy nodded and walked down, his black hair moving with the wind. Barry stuck his hand out. "I'm Barry Allen."

"Harry Potter." The boy returned the gesture and then pulled back after a minute.

"Hey, what's that scar on your forehead?" Barry asked, curious despite knowing that his question must have sounded rude. "It looks like a lightning bolt."

Harry flinched and smoothed some wild black hair over it. "I… it's… it's not something I like to talk about."

"Oh, sorry," Barry said, glancing to where Tom, the boy who had briefly stolen his backpack was still on the ground. "He must have tripped, right?"

Harry tilted his head in confusion then followed Barry's gaze and snorted.

"What the heck was that?" Tom exclaimed.

"You tripped," Harry replied hesitantly. He pointed at the relatively big rock near the steps in Tom's path. "Over that rock."

Tom hurriedly got up and then ran off, back to the older boy's cabin.

"What are you excited about the most?" Barry asked as they both went back into the cabin. It was just a few days after Joe and Iris had dropped him off and he was slightly homesick, for his own home. For his mom and dad. They always dropped him off at camp before his mother had gotten killed. "I'm looking forward to seeing the lizards!"

"Uh, yeah. You think they have a lot of lizards here? I'm mostly interested in the snakes," Harry answered, going to sit on his top bunk. Barry climbed up it too and sat beside him, glancing at Harry.

"They have an entire house for the snakes!" Barry exclaimed, pointing to where the Snake Lair was. It was just next to the lizard house and the green house was on the other side. "A lot of people say they're slimy and squirmy but we know differently."

"Yeah," Harry replied, smiling slightly. "People say that snakes are evil where I'm from."

Barry gasped and sputtered.

Harry laughed. "I know they're not, Barry. It's just other people, adults, who say that."

"Well, they should know differently."

"Yes!"

"Where are you from?" Barry asked, liking the sound of Harry's accent. "I want to go talk some sense into those people."

"I go to a boarding school, in Scotland," Harry explained. "It's north of England. We… are kind of split up into four different houses or cabins. One of the cabin's mascot animal is a snake."

"Ooh… What house are you in?" Barry asked. "Are you in the snake one?"

"No, I'm actually in the lion one. The… person who sorts us initally said I would do good in the snake house. I didn't know what to think of that."

"But Harry, that wouldn't make you evil."

* * *

Harry followed alongside Barry as the walked into the snake lair the next day. Everyone was excited to see all of the snakes as the brochure had said that the camp had all different kinds. Harry had just been excited to see a snake that wouldn't attempt to kill him. Though he had been able to talk the basilisk down from killing him and the one back in that zoo hadn't tried to kill him so maybe he was being a bit biased and the basilisk had been under Tom's control.

"I've seen snakes in my aunt's garden but these are beautiful," Harry whispered as he and Barry walked along the aisle. The snakes were kept in different but still large cages, given that the building was pretty big too. Harry still hadn't forgotten about the snake he had accidentally let loose in the zoo back before the Hogwarts letters had arrived in that summer before his first year.

"What kind of snakes are in your aunt's garden?" Barry asked, eyes wide with delight at seeing the various reptiles. "My class had a snake once but now we just have a lizard."

"I don't know for sure," Harry replied. "I once saw a boa constrictor at a zoo once though."

"Ahh, those are awesome," Barry said.

The atmosphere was noisy as everyone oohed and ahed at the snakes, being careful to not touch the glass. That was one thing that Harry had noticed about everyone. There might have been one or two bullies but everyone was respectful of the reptiles. Unlike Dudley. "Your school had a lizard and a snake?"

"Yeah but the snake died," Barry muttered.

"I don't know if snakes live long in captivity," Harry commented. "Do you know?"

"I know that they can live up to 25 years," Barry replied, staring at the single black kingsnake in the building. The kingsnake was all black but with white stripes every so often. "Look at it, it's scenting the air… Cool!"

Harry shuffled over to Barry's side and peered down at the snake, not even realizing that most of the other kids had already left. There was still one counselor with the two of them but her attention was drawn elsewhere. As Harry continued to study the snake, the kingsnake stuck its toungue out and tilted its head upward, as if it was looking up at both boys.

"Oooh," Barry whispered, nudging Harry. "Look."

The snake started to hiss, its eyes blinking up at Harry in particular.

 _Are you a speaker?_

Harry winced but sighed, knowing that when he had come here, he would encounter snakes talking to him. He wanted to learn about them and avoid any mention or thing that would remind him of the wizarding world. Everyone had stared at him with bewildered and poisonus looks last year when they had realized that he could speak parseltoungue. He didn't want Barry looking at him like that so he ignored the snake.

* * *

"Who're you writing?" Harry asked, sticking his head down to peer at Barry.

Barry looked up at him from where he was and then glanced down to the postcard on his sleeping bag. It was a few days later and everyone was getting an hour to write home or write to friends. "I'm writing to Joe and Iris. They're the ones who dropped me off."

"Is Joe your dad?" Harry asked, climbing down from his top bunk and coming to shuffle onto Barry's bunk. Barry easily slid over to give Harry more room.

"No, not really. My dad's in prison," Barry murmured, ready to hear a gasp or a frown in fear from Harry. "He's in there for a crime he didn't commit!"

"I wasn't going to say anything," Harry said, glancing at the other kids that were within hearing distance then back to Barry. "I know… Well, I don't know what that's like but at least you have Joe and Iris. They love you right?"

Barry turned after jotting down a sentence to look at Harry. His green eyes were narrowed. "Don't you have parents too?"

"No," Harry responded. "My parents were… killed."

Barry's eyes widened, his heart doing a flip in his chest at Harry's tone. "When did they..."

"When I was one and a half," Harry said. "I don't really remember them. But you have Joe and Iris. You have a home and a family who still loves you. I bet it's great having Iris around."

"Yeah, Iris is pretty great," Barry agreed, reaching out to grab Harry's closest hand to try to comfort his friend. "But then who dropped you off at camp? Who rode with you on the airplane?"

"No one. A taxi driver dropped me off."

"Well, now you have me. We'll be penpals!" Barry exclaimed in excited promise.

"I'd like that," Harry said, grinning.

* * *

"Hey, aren't you the one whose dad is in prison?" Micheal asked, studying Barry. Tom and Madison walked up to stand alongside Micheal and Barry flinched. The three of them were amongst the older kids in the camp and they were living in the older kid's cabins but it wasn't too far away from the younger kids cabins. "I heard about that from my dad and mom last year. They say your dad killed your mom."

"He didn't!" Barry exclaimed, fingers tightening into a fist. "My dad is innocent!"

"Yeah, and you said that a blur killed your mom. There's no such thing!" Madison retorted.

"Yes there is and it killed my mom! I saw it!" Barry yelled, as the three older kids backed him up against one of the biggest trees near their cabin. The other kids and their counselors had gone to dinner already so there was no one around to help him. "It was red and gold and it killed her!"

"Your mom probably did something to herself," Tom said, his voice raised. "Or maybe it was you who caused it."

Barry glared at him, almost shaking with anger, and shuffled back up against the tree further but then tripped. He winced, ready to hit the ground when someone caught him. He looked up to see Harry, whose eyes were narrowed.

"You okay?" Harry asked, helping him up by reaching out a hand.

Barry nodded, taking a hold of Harry's hand to stand up.

"Leave him alone!" Harry shouted, turning to the bullies. "What his dad didn't do is none of your business."

"You believe me?" Barry whispered as he realized they were still holding hands.

"Yeah, I believe you," Harry answered.

"Whatever," Micheal muttered then gestured to the other two kids and the three of them walked away.

"You have bullies at your school?" Barry asked a few minutes afterward, breathing heavily.

"My cousin," Harry replied, his voice shaky. "He and his friends bullied me before I started school. They called it, 'Harry-hunting'."

Barry's eyes widened. "That's awful! Didn't your aunt and uncle do something about it?"

Harry turned to look at Barry and shook his head. "Nope."

"I wish we could live together," Barry said.

"I wish we could too," Harry responded, knowing that it couldn't be. He had to live at his aunt and uncles place.

* * *

The days went on with the two of them enjoying everything about the camp. Barry didn't think about his father being in jail for a crime he didn't commit. Harry didn't think about being an outcast last year due to the neutral talent of being able to talk to snakes. They learned how to take care of lizards, snakes and everything in between. Harry learned to appreciate snakes more from Barry's continuing enthusiam for the species and he learned that maybe the Slytherins weren't all evil. Just because their house mascot was a snake didn't mean they were unlikable.

The two grew closer as the month neared its end. It was just the Friday before the week was over and thus the summer camp ending that everything was flipped upside down. Harry was just walking back from the bathrooms after dinner when he felt something, something that was inherently magical.

"Harry?"

He turned to see Barry sitting on the porch of the small cabin and watched as the other boy stand up and run toward him. "Something wrong?"

"No… At least I don't think so," Harry said, hand going to his pocket where his wand was. He always kept it with him or under his pillow so that he knew where it was. The thing he was sensing kind of felt like Hedwig but he had told the owl to stay with Hermione while he had been at summer camp. The moon lit up the ground and the little forest beyond the camp.

A flash of red illuminated the space behind their cabin and Barry's eyes widened. Harry's eyes did too, not knowing what to think of it except for the peculiar sense that it had something to do with his owl.

"What was that?" Barry asked, looking between him and the area behind their camp.

Harry sighed and studied Barry. The other boy had become his best friend, well maybe best muggle friend. Hermione was still a really good friend, maybe possibly a sister. "Can you keep a secret?"

Barry nodded and followed Harry when he started to walk.

"I… guess it's more of a show than tell," Harry started, talking quietly as they walked further away from their cabin. "Do you believe in magic?"

"I did see that blur," Barry offered, bumping Harry's shoulder in an effort to cheer him up.

"Oh, that's true. I don't know what that was," Harry replied. "I don't know if magic can do that."

"What do you mean?" Barry asked, as Harry stopped in front of the little forest.

"I'm a wizard?" Harry tried as Hedwig flew over and Harry held up his arm for her to land on. She was chirping incessantly, trying to tell him something. "Hedwig, hold on, girl. I don't know what you're saying."

Hedwig glared at him, her wings tucked into her small body.

"Harry?"

"Barry, meet Hedwig," Harry introduced, stroking Hedwig's wings. She trilled contentedly, happy to be back with him again. "She's my friend and messenger owl."

Barry tentatively reached out a hand to let Hedwig sniff. The snowy owl chirped angrily at Harry then hopped over to sit on Barry's shoulder. He laughed in delight, reaching up a hand to stroke her feathers.

"I know, you aren't really a messenger owl. That's not all you are to me," Harry muttered bemusedly.

"How is she… friendly? What did you mean by 'you're a wizard?" Barry asked, still smiling widely.

Harry slowly drew out his wand and showed it to Barry. "I mean this is my wand. I can't do any magic right now but when I'm at school, I can."

Barry stared at him then peered down at the wand. "Is that why occasionally when we're in the snake house, some of the animals stare at you?"

"You saw that?"

"Yeah. I think I'm the only kid that saw that."

Hedwig chirped, her head turning to look to the forest behind them. Harry's eyes widened as Fawkes flew over towards them, landing on the tree behind Barry and on the lowest limb.

"Uh, Harry, what is that?"

"Fawkes is a phoenix but I don't know what he's doing here. I'm not an expert on this," Harry replied faintly. "Hedwig? What is Fawkes doing here?"

Hello, Harry.

"You're beautiful," Barry murmured, taking a step toward the phoenix. Hedwig flew back over to Harry's shoulder, landed and nuzzled into him.

Fawkes trilled lightly, is voice musical and bright. His feathers shook in the slight wind around them, looking like they were glowing, on fire. Thank you, Barry. It's nice to meet you.

"It's nice to meet you too," Barry replied, grinning.

Harry was still blinking. "Uh... what are you doing here?"

I am a phoenix. I chose you as my human but I couldn't get away until now.

"Phoenixes can choose people?" Barry asked, exchanging looks with Harry.

Dumbledore has said that I can see you now.

"So you really are a wizard?" Barry asked, turning to look at Harry with a broad smile. "I thought phoenixes weren't real."

"They are," Harry remarked, wearily. "I just didn't know that my familiar was a phoenix. Did you come here for a specific reason, Hedwig, Fawkes?"

No, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You get up to too much trouble these days.

"Oh, well. I'm fine."

Barry giggled at Fawkes's remark, apparently having heard it in his mind too.

* * *

Harry stood in front of the pick up point for parents to get their children. Once again, he felt his heart clench in his chest, wishing that he had parents that would come pick him up. Or parents that loved him. Barry had just gone to run over to where his foster dad and sister had parked their car. For a boy their age, Barry was awfully fast. Maybe because he had run from bullies at home, he figured.

"Joe, can I introduce you to someone?" he could hear Barry saying as he tugged Joe over to him.

"Of course Barry!" Joe replied, smiling at Barry's antics. It was good to see Barry after a whole month and it was even better seeing him smiling.

Harry watched as the three of them stopped in front of him and Barry went up to stand next to him.

"Joe, this is Harry. He's my best friend!"

Joe looked down at Harry, seeing the boy's wild, black hair and deep green eyes. Barry's friend was wearing a green t-shirt and jeans and he was grinning at Barry. "Hi, Harry. I'm Joe."

"We're going to be penpals," Barry said. "Right?"

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "We'll write to each other a lot."

"You're British?" Joe asked.

"He is," Barry answered, looking to Harry, who winked at him.

"Well, let's go get your duffel bag," Joe suggested.

* * *

"Bye, Harry."

Harry smiled at him and went to hug him. Barry grinned and wrapped his arms around his new best friend, who had a lot of secrets.

"Bye, Barry."

"You'll say bye to Hedwig and Fawkes for me?" Barry asked, pulling back after a minute.

"You said bye to her last night but yeah. I'll write to you in a week or two, I think. School will be starting soon so..." Harry trailed off, grinning at the thought of seeing his other friends.

"You bet. I'll write if you don't!" Barry exclaimed, hugging Harry once more before getting into Joe's car.

"That a threat?"

Barry grinned. "It could be."

Harry laughed and waved until Barry and his family drove away then waited for the taxi that their counselor called for him. It was looking to be a great year already!


End file.
